Why do forum members talk down the prices for their own C3's and the price of others peoples cars?

Reading posts for months about price it appears that many individuals like to offer low, fire sale prices for cars. Why? Personally, if someone offered me a very low price, I would walk away and not do business with them.

FYI, Corvette Magazine just came out with their October Magazine. On page 58 it lists the base values of all C3's.

 

Many of the cars where owners start high hoping for a top dollar sale end up sitting on them for months and months and keep lowering the price until they finally get down to a price point where a sale happens - some For Sale threads live forever with the price dropping and dropping. Some sellers know they need or really want to move a car so they start close to their true 'bottom dollar', get a faster sale and move on.

It's just different tactics for different sellers, as well as for different buyers. It sounds like you don't mind the negotiation game. I personally hate it when buying or selling and would rather have a buyer say 'that's a fair deal!' and just buy the car without going back and forth much.

 

From what I can see on this board, the stuff that moves fast is attractively priced. This probably isn't the place to sell if you're looking to hold out for top dollar.

 

Riski,

Welcome to the Forum. Your 70 Vet looks great. Someone plz post the Oct. 08 Corvette Mag values. They should be interesting as we get into Carlisle season.

My .02: I believe that CF appeals much more to DIY types (do it yourself- and this is not a knock on these folks, as I dabble myself) vs. those just waiting to write a check for the right car. As such, this type of guy is very value oriented, and realizes that most C3's purchased need to include a $$ buffer or cushion for them to attend to repairs/changes needed on any +/-40 yr. old C3 that they may acquire.

Just as with real estate, a car that is priced correctly will sell. One that is not (a certain 74 comes to mind) will sit and not sell, turning people off due to the high price.

More .02: Since many (most?) CF C3'ers prefer to perform most of the work on their cars themselves, you may actually see more interest on For Sale cars needing total resto's than finished cars.

Restored cars are not worth to the DIY C3 Forum Members what they are worth on the open Corvette market to buyers who chose not to do their own work and want a finished, quality car.

Rickman

 

It's just different tactics for different sellers, as well as for different buyers. It sounds like you don't mind the negotiation game. I personally hate it when buying or selling and would rather have a buyer say 'that's a fair deal!' and just buy the car without going back and forth much.[/QUOTE]



It may not be that people are "talking down" their car when it is for sale. Hopefully you are getting a very honest description. I would much rather be pleasantly surprised when I go to look at a car than be very disapointed and upset because some bonehead intentionally misleads you on the condition of his car. Been there, done that!

Wisconsin to Phoenix a few years back.

 

I often wonder just the opposite; why so many people price their cars above what similar cars are currently bringing. They don’t seem to bother doing any research. Reminds me of people who price their cars according to how much money they have invested in them, as if that has any relevance.

Lets see….ah cars similar to mine (or maybe a little nicer) are generally selling for about $24k, but I think I’ll price mine at $32k because I need $30k just to pay my Bookie. Maybe I’ll use shill bids to try and sucker someone on Ebay, or quote ridiculous NADA prices, as if that nonsense is going to work on the buyers. The market is what it is. If you want to unload some glass or iron then price it to get the job done and move on with your life.

I see cars at priced at 50% to 100% over what any reasonable person would expect them to bring. You see plenty of this nonsense on Craigslist where the listing is free.

These people then complain about the slow market, but you'll notice anything that has an attractive price usually gets snapped up quickly.

It isn't rocket science.

 

The market is what the market is.

But, I have noticed that some forum members advise buyers to low ball sellers. Personally, I would not want to do business with this type of approach and I would walk away. Just like in real estate, you run the risk of pissing off the seller and creating bad feelings. Quite frankly, it is very hard to determine the price and condition of a car without seeing it in person. I would never buy a car sight unseen. Giving advise to people on the price of a car can be very difficult without first hand knowledge.

What I find interesting is that Corvette Magazine says that my car (70 Vert) has gone up in value in the last year. However, most forum members say just the opposite. In my view, the best place to determine real value is to go to Carlisle to see what cars are selling for.

Regards,
Rich

 

I don't know about Carlisle, but agree with everything you said.

 

I think some of us misinterpreted what you were saying in the initial post - I know I sure did. You were talking about a potential buyer making a lowball, fire sale offer - you would not deal with someone who did that to you as a seller, I thought you were talking about sellers putting low prices on their cars from the start. I wasn't sure how that could offend you as a potential buyer. Now your statement makes more sense after reading your last post!

 

I don't think I agree with the statement that forum members low ball themselves or other members:

Most of the time, not always, but most of the time the seller on this site is asking the question such as, what is it worth?, why am I not getting any responses?, do I have it priced too high?

The answers I typically see are from vette owners who are more educated with regards to the costs associated with fixing these beasts.

I don't think they are purposefully low balling, just giving their honest opinion of the going market price.

 

As someone who is looking for a car presently, and has been talking to dozens of owners over the last month, I see it a bit differently. As I stated in another thread, the price listed in Corvette Magazine (I just picked up a copy of the October issue today to look at the new values) seems to be an "average" of many things even for something seemingly specific, like a 1971 LT-1 in "good" condition. If that is truly an "average" price for a car like that, you are averaging dealer sales in with private party sales, there is also no mention of the number of miles on the cars, so you are talking about an average there as well. A person with a 1971 LT-1 in good condtion with 125K miles needs to understand that even if the CM numbers are gospel, he should expect to get less than the stated number because of the miles on the car, and conversely, someone with the same car with 40K miles should expect to get more.

What a lot of sellers don't seem to want to grasp is that even if I start from the CM "good" condition number, I am going to KNOCK IT DOWN for things like ripped up seats, huge numbers of miles, braking systems that obviously need work, ragtops that obviously need to be replaced etc. Good condition means good condition, maybe not a show car, but pretty much EVERYTHING is in good working order. I'm not talking about a knick in the paint or a small rip in a seat, I am talking about cars that need A LOT of work, but the owner is insulted if I even suggest that their asking price is a little high when they are asking $4K over the CM "good condition" price for their car. Oh, and one thing I should note: if your car has a mess of a paint job on it, I am NEVER going to view it as being in "good condition". If that means that we shouldn't have discussions about your car, that is fine with me.

People have been focusing on the supposed "low ball" prices they think they are getting without even thinking about the other end. I spoke to an owner yesterday who has a car that he wants more than the "Good" CM number for, even though the car is not truly "show-worthy", I decided to stop taking up his time because he convinced me that his car really was worth at or close to what he was asking, and his asking price was more than what I was willing to invest in a toy car.

I don't understand the whining about the low-ball pricing and its counterpart, the inability to pay for a pricy car that is worth the asking price. When it becomes apparent (hopefully early on in discussions about a potential purpose) that the two parties are not in the same place on price, both should just move on to the next potential deal. As long as no one is taking up anyone's time when they KNOW no deal can possibly happen, I don't see how anyone is being treated unfairly. I'm also not really sure what people think of as "low-balling", I think that if you are asking $30K and I offer $25K, that is NOT a "low ball" offer. If I were to offer $15K, that would be, not because of percentages or anything, it's just that if my view of the value of what you are selling is that radically different than your view, I wouldn't waste my time or yours with an offer like that.

 

FYI, Corvette Magazine just came out with their October Magazine. On page 58 it lists the base values of all C3's.[/QUOTE]

Unless some one is listing prices he will pay for these Corvettes it's not worth the paper it's printed on. All of the price guides are good for is if you need to insure a car. Look at EBAY cars that sold & auction prices that cars sold for but not the no sale bid.
KEN

 

A low bid price at first gives the seller time to counter offer. It goes back and forth until either one party won't move, or a price is reached. They aren't trying to offend you, but to instead get the best deal that they can. If you want what your asking make sure you post FIRM on the price, and then don't move.

 

The first mistake you are making is that you are paying attention to Corvette Magazine. I don't know why so many people on the C3 board are so in love with quoting that rag or going to the effort of posting scans of their prices. They are wrong, not based in reality, and will lead you astray.

Secondly, you need to take the emotion out of the buying/selling experience. Ive discussed this on here (and in some periodicals) in the past, but here it is: many Corvette owners simply vastly overrate the value of their cars, either through wishful thinking, delusional thought or trying to make the big sale. This often causes some "tension" in the selling experience. On the other hand, many buyers make low opening offers. So what? Why get offended? Do your research, find out what the cars are really worth in the real world, and be comfortable in that belief. Getting emotional or offended is pointless.

If you can't make a deal, smile and say "sorry we couldnt make a deal" and sell it to someone else.

 

100%

 

Now thats a lowball offer

 

I had a guy ask me why one of the most common things he heard from sellers is "I don't have to sell my car". In my case, my cars are paid for, they cost me a little in gas, maintenance, collector car insurance, I have a place to keep them and most important, I still get a thrill when I drive'em. So when I put a price on my 68, I figured in how much it took me to get my car in the shape it is in and I put a "reasonable" price on it. I almost let it go in a trade for mid-year coupe, 300hp with power glide that needed work. I'm glad I didn't make the trade.
Bryan

 

Yes, I have already gotten the "I don't have to sell my car" line numerous times. I usually respond with "I don't have to buy your car", but it generally fails to convey the pointlessness of their comment. Sellers like to feel that they have 100% control over the deal, but the reality is that if the buyer is rational, they don't.

 

I dont understand why some people get offended when a potential buyer gives the a low first offer. Even if its very low. If its too low, just tell them, make a counter offer, or dont budge from the original price. The point is that as a buyer you never know what the seller is really going to go for. As mentioned sellers use all kinds of tactics, high starting prices, etc to get to the price they want for it. The buyer has no way of knowing what the sellers tactics really are. So you be foolish not to make a lower offer and try to get the car as cheap as you can. Tell him no, and if he wants the car then he'll try again.

 

The reason these guys talk down the value of the cars is because they know the market better then most buyers. If it's not a deal on this forum then it will be talked down. The "fair" price that members want is not necessarily what the car would bring to the right buyer.

All these Vette shops get these outrageous prices for hunks of junk, and when someone post a quality car on here with a similar price people jump all over them. Bottom line, if you're selling your car don't sell it to someone who knows the C3 market enough to only settle for a good deal.